Stable isotope method for well logging



JTme 28, 1960 Filed 001;.

J. A. RICKARD STABLE ISQTOPE METHOD FOR WELL LOGGING DIVIDING CIRCUIT DISCRIMINATOR AND COUNT RATE EQUIPMENT RECORDER AMPLIFIER :uml IIIIHI DETECTOR SHIELD ENERGY SOURCE II HIHI I IH llll llllllll'! IN V EN TOR.

u IP'I' Ill JAMES A. RICKARD,

ATTORNEY.

7 various. isotopes offthe chemic L -ld f T s] be jemployed therewitli isfullYdscribed in US. application: Serial No. 534,234, entitled lfRadioactive Logging I Methodj jfiled September 14,1955, by James A. Rickard;

STABLE isoror METHOD FOR WELL LOGGING ,James :A. Rickard, Bell'aire, Tex., assignor, by mesne assignments, to JerseyProduction Research Company,

. Tulsa, Okla, a corporation of Delaware Filed on; 19, 1956,.Ser. No. 617,018 i9 Claims. (Cl. 250- 833) This invention is concerned with determining the characteristics of subsurface formations. More particularly, this invention is concerned with distinguishing subsurface formations by comparing relative amounts of stable isotopes of selected chemical elements contained in the formations.

One method of radioactivefwell logging, termedherein induced nuclear reaction logging, is to bombard a, desired formation with primaryradiation, normally neu- ,trons,a'nd observe the induced instant-aneousor delayed secondary radiation, normallyfgamma rays, The number "and "energy of the induced secondary radiations :are uniquely characteristic of the presence and. amounts of; 'l felemen't's contained in ethodiai dldesirable equipment to Thus an induced'nuclear reaction log may 'be employed to determinefthe presence and; amounts of carbon, for example, in subsurface formation i This'type of 10g, as with allrknown 'loggin' g methods, does-not log directly for a desired material. such asloil or sulphur. Instead'characteristics, such as the chemical nature, or the subsurface formations are determinedfrom which the presenc'eand'amounts fo'f anyndeslredrnaterial are calculated. By this logging method'itis possible, to

; distinguish between ditferent formations. For example, although" carbon containing materials,' such as iarforma.

uon contamingcalcium carbonate v(limestone),,would indicate the presence ofcarbonand a sandstone saturated "flj jwith' oiljfo mation also .would'indica'te the presence'of carbon, the presence of secondary radiationcha-r'acteristic of calcium would indicate thatthelcarbon'radiation was 7 jderived, atleast partly from .calcium carbonate. Simi. larly, other "fchemical balance? methods. may be'used to indicate'thenatureof other types of carbon containing f'f orm ationsq Howevei the applicationjof these methods is not accurateinall cases and when applied to certain types offorniations' may yield ambiguous results,

The induced nuclear reactio'n methoddoes riot-determine the'presence of ai chem'icalelementassuch; instead the presence' of'at least one isotope or; a"c heniical ele-B lme'nt is dterminedi Thus; the presence jof a', 4.l mev. (million electron volts) garhina ray produced by a. new i tron'capture reaction may/indicate thepresence of oxy- I Oli-tttd f t-w flc i lf I If oxygen 16 were found in the formation,oxygen-17 and oxygen 18 could be assumed present also, because the three isotopesofoxygen are always present simultaneously in nature. Furthermore, the threeisotopes are present approximately the same ratio in allsubstances found in nature. 'This' is-true for all-other stable isotopes foot the various chemical elements, except those few which are the stable end products 'of' a' radioactive decay such as for example Ca, A Sr, Pb Pb flfand Pb United States Patent-- 0 Patented June 28, 1960 Measurements ofthe relative amounts of stable isotopes of the chemical elements show that even though the isotopic ratios are approximately constant in nature, small diiferences doexist in the isotopic ratios in difi'erent formations. For example, the ratio of carbon 12 to carbon 13 is not the same in limestone as it is in oil. These diiferences can be directly attributed to the natural physical, chemical and biological forces which act in nature. a

Accordingly, it is possible to measure the presence and relative amounts of various stable isotopes by the induced nuclear reaction techniques and thereby determine characteristics of the formation from the isotopic ratios.

For example, if it is desired to detect the presence of hydrocarbons in a well bore, the ratio of C to C may be employed. In hydrocarbons this ratio is about 91.5-

94 to 1, whereas in inorganically precipitated calcium carbonate (limestone) this ratio is about 88-89 to 1 The 3 materials.

ratio difierence is attributable to the action of the biological process, photosynthesis, for, since a living plant consumes C -more readily than C 3, living plants and their remains are relatively richer in C than inorganic v As readily seen by measuring the ratio of C /C in a number of earth formations, the carbon in hydrocarbon formations (which are remains of plants and hence organic in nature) may be distinguished from selected chemical elements present in the formations comprising the stepsof bombarding the subsurface formations Referring to the drawing in greater detail, inorder to' u, obtain:v a more complete-understanding: of my inventive method a borehole'lll is. shown penetrating a plurality of with a sou'rceof radioactive energy, detecting the induced radiation, producing electrical pulses representative of isotopes of a selected chemical element, dividing said pulsesto obtain 'a ratio of said isotopes and then recording said'ratio.

Referring to the drawing:

The single figure is a schematic representation of suitable apparatus which may be employed in the operation of my invention. r

subsurface formations,A B, C and D, -A suitable source of radioactive, energy 11, a ;shield;12 and a suitable 'de-' tector 13 are shown positioned one cable 14, which is adapted to be lowered and raised in the borehole 10. The cable 14 is electrical1y conductive and connects to an amplifier 15, a discriminator and count rate equipment 16, a dividing circuit 17 anda'recorder or meter 18. The shield 12 is utilized to prevent detection of'primary radiation from source ll'by detector 13-.

In operation' In accordancewith theprocedure. describedinUS.

application .Serial' No. 534,234,' noted supra, the bore hole is traversed by the source of. radioactive energy .11

jand detector 13, the formations are bombarded with energeticpanticles'and thedetector 13 detects secondary. radiation particles caused by" reaction with nuclei and produces an electiicjpulse for each secondary radiation particle detectcd. Detection may. be.' made immediately after bombardment forexample;.any'time less than one second after""boinbafdment, todtect instantaneous induced radiation or detection maybe made later, for example, anytime longerthanone second after bombardment, to detect delayed induced radiation. The height of the pulse is propontional to the energy 1 ofthe secondary" radiation particle which, in -turn is selects pulses of apreselected amplitude-and develops an output voltage which is-proportional tothe rate at which the preselected pulses occur. I

The dividing circuit 157 dividesone'voltage by the other and provides an output voltage proportional tothe ratio of the input voltages; This; type circuit is Well known w and is describedon pages 154-155- of Electron-Tube Circuits, by SamuelrSeely McGraw-Hill;"1950); "The meter or recorder 18 displays the output voltage. The amplifier, discriminator and dividing circuit arecommon to the art and do not form a part of the-present invention. In the C C illustration wherebythe'relative amounts of C and C in the formation are'detected-andrecorded, a higher meter'reading would "indicate thepresence of organic carbon, probably hydrocarbons,-and"a low-meter reading, on the other hand, would indicate the presence of inorganic carbon. The absolute counting ratedue toeach isotope, as shown by the'coun't rateequipment; would "indicate the amounts of each isotope in" the-formations. Typical nuclear reactionswhich may serve as indicators 4 (if-C and C are:

For 0113: I

, C' +'f(4.95 mev.) 05+llum-msl -F ec f'fl -l-n *U +.1(1.27mcv.) li(3.68mev.),

- v G -l-' (-t.95-l-.E mev.)

For C Other elements-such as-sulphur also have-"different isotopic ratios in various formation's'.' -Thus,-it is-possible to distinguish between native=su1phur and various sulphates, such as calciumsulphate; "Typical nuclear reactions which may-serve as indicators of sulphurare:

4 The above reactions are shown for illustrative purposes only and it is to be emphasized and understood that other reactions may be employed.

Having fully described the objects, elements and operation of my invention, I claim:

1. A method for determining characteristics of subsurface formations by ascertaining theratio of at least "two stable isotopes of each of various selected chemical elements present in said formations comprising the steps of bombarding:the-subsurface formations a source of radioactive energy," detecting induced radiation and producing. electrical pulses proportionalto the energy and intensity of said induced radiation, selecting pulses representative ofisaid two isotopes of each of said various selected chemical elements, dividing said pulses to thereby obtain a ratio of said two isotopes for each of said various selected chemicalelements and then recording said ratio.

2. g-A method as recited in,claim 1 wherein theisotopes of said selected chemical element are C and C 3. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the isotopes of said selected chemicalelement are S .,and S 4. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the induced radiation is instantaneously detected.

5. A method-as'recited in claim 4 wherein the isotopes ofsaid selected chemical element, areC l. and C 6. A method as recited'i n claim 4, wherein the isotopes of saidchemical element ares a and S 7. A'method as recited inclaim 1 wherein the detection of the induced radiation is delayed.

" of said selected chemicaLelement are C and C 9. A'method'as recitedin'claim 7., wherein the isotopes of said selected chemical element are S and S '10, A method fordetermining characteristics of subsurface formations by ascertaining, the. ratio of at-least j two stable isotopes of each of various selected chemical elements present in said formations, comprising the. steps of bombarding the subsurface formations witha source of neutrons, detecting induced gamma radiationv and producing electrical pulses proportional to the energy and intensity of said induced gamma radiation, selecting pulses representative of said two isotopes of each of said .various selected chemical elements and developing a voltage -;proportional to the number of pulses per unit of; time,

dividing 'saidvoltag'es to thereby obtain a ratio of said two isotopes for each of saidvarious selected chemical elements and then recording said ratio.

" 11. A method as recited, in claim 10 wherein the isotopes of said selected .chemicalelement are C and C 12. A method as recited in claim 10 wherein the isotopes of said selected chemicalelement are $3 and S 13. A method as recited in claim IQwherei n the induced radiation is instantaneously detected.

14. A method as recited in claim 13 wherein the isotopes of saidgselectedchemical element are C? and C 15. A method as recited inclaim 13,.whereinthe isotopes of said chemical element are S3,? and S 16. A method as, recited in. claim 10 wherein; the detection of the induced radiation is delayed.

1" 1'1. Amethod asIecited inclaim 16.wherein the isovtopesoi said. selectedchemical element are C and'C 18,. Amethod asrecited inclaim 16,,wherein the isotopes of said selected chemical element are S", and S 19. A method as recited in claim 10 wherein the induced gamma'radiation results from inelastic scattering 11 reactions.

- Reterences Cited in the file of this .patent UNITED STATES PATENTS ,.Ruble Oct. 25,1955 12,752,504 McKay, .June 26,1956 2,776,318 .Youmans Jan. 1, 1957 vmmtn 

